NIH proposes new funding rules to prevent conflicts of interest

The National Institutes of Health has proposed new guidelines to prevent financial conflicts of interest among thousands of researchers who receive federal funding. The move, which will affect more than 40,000 researchers, comes amid rising concern about the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and other private-sector interests on scientific research. In a series of high-profile cases, federally funded researchers have received upward of millions of dollars from companies with a financial interest in the outcome of their work, the Washington Post reports.

National Institute of Health Director Francis S. Collins, MD, has accused the conservative American College of Pediatricians of distorting his research on homosexuality. Collins was referring to a March 31...